Rail clamp



Oct. 10, 1944. F. K. HOLMESTED 2,360,230

RAIL CLAMP Filed Feb. 4. 1944 Patented Oct. 10, 1944 RAIL CLAMP Francis K. Holmested, Charleston, W. Va., assignor to Nellie Atkinson Holmested, Charleston,

W. Va.

Application February 4, 1944, Serial No. 521,067

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to rail clamps, and more particularly to clamps or stops adapted to be applied to railroad rails for holding or stopping the movement of cars or other rolling stock thereover.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved rail clamp of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 2,320,868 granted June 1, 1943, whereby the strength and durability of the clamp and the gripping power on the rail are greatly increased.

One of the features of improvement consists in increasing the thickness of the lugs which engage beneath the head of the rail relatively to the thickness of the body of the clamp which straddles the rail, whereby the lugs are reinforced and overcome tendency to mushrooming under the severe impact of a heavy car.

Another improvement consists in constructing the lug on the sideof the clamp engaged by the car wheel flange so that this lug will engage not only the under side of the rail head but will also engage the upper side of the base of the rail, whereby this lug will become wedged between the under side of the rail head and the top surface of the base of the rail when the clamp is rotated by the engagement of the car wheel therewith.

A further improvement comprises a handle which is pivotally connected to the clamp at a pointtoward its inner end whereby the clamp may be suspended from the handle in a position which enables it to be placed on and removed from the rail with facility and with safety to the attendant.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be hereinafter described, the features of novelty being pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a railway rail showing the improved clamp being placed thereon, the dotted lines illustrating the initial position of the clamp when applied to the rail by the handle, and the full lines showing the clamp rocked, into seated position on the rail;

. Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating the position of the clamp on the rail after being tilted and rotated thereon by the car wheel, the latter being indicated in doted lines;

7 Figure 3 is a side elevation of the rail and clamp as viewed from the right-hand side of Fig. 2; and

Figure 4 is a top plan ofv the rail and clamp as shown in Fig. 2.

Similar parts are designated by the same reference characters in the different views.

In the drawing, the clamp is adapted for use on a railroad rail ll) of conventional form having a web H, a head |2 the undersides of which are designated I3 and I4, and a base l5 having downwardly sloping upper surfaces I6 and H.

The improved clamp, as in my prior patent aforesaid, is composed preferably of a single or one-piece cast or forged steel body comprising a plate-like body l8 adapted to be placed over the rail and provided with a pair of jaws l9 and 20 adapted to fit loosely over the rail head, the jaws having lugs 2| and 22 thereon located to extend below the rail head, the jaws and lugs being so spaced and dimensioned that the lugs will pass over the rail head when the 111g 22 is engaged beneath one side of the rail head and the clamp is rocked about this lug as a fulcrum to seat the clamp on the rail, and the lugs 2| and 22 will seat under the rail head at opposite sides of the rail when the clamp is twisted on the rail head in response to engagement of the flange 0 of a car wheel 0 therewith, and the clamp will be tilted from a vertical plane by the engagement of the car Wheel flange therewith, thereby locking it securely on the rail; and when pressure of the car wheel is relieved, the clamp may readily be released and removed from the rail.

According to the present invention, the lugs 2| and 22 are widened or increased in thickness without, however, increasing the thickness of the body portion I8, so that portions 2| and 22 of the respective lugs project from opposite sides of the body portion. These projecting portions of the lugs reinforce the lugs and provide larger bearing surfaces thereof which engage the rail head which, it has been found in practice, overcomes a tendency of the lugs to mushroom or become deformed at their corners when they are driven into locking engagement against the rail under the severe impact of a heavy car rolling against the clamp. By constructing the body portion I8 of less thickness than the lugs, rotating of the clamp to a sufiicient extent to effectively seat the lugs beneath the rail head, as will be seen from Fig. 4, will not be interfered with.

Another improvement provided by the present invention consists in extending the lug 2| downwardly to bring its lower edge into a position to seat itself on the upper surface I6 of the base I5 of the rail, and inclining the lower edge of this lug ,so that it will conform with the inclination of the rail base surface I6 when the clamp is rotated and tilted by the flange of the car wheel into looking engagement with the rail, as shown in Fig. 2. By so extending the lug 2|, this lug is wedged between the underside l3 of the rail head and the upper surface l6 of the base of the rail when the clamp is tilted by the car wheel, thereby greatly increasing the looking effect of the clamp upon the rail, and relieving the lug 22 of part of the stress which would otherwise be imposed upon it.

Another improvement provided by the present invention consists in providing a relatively high portion [8 on the body of the clamp at the end thereof which is to be engaged by the flange o of the car wheel 0, and sloping the top of the body portion l8 downwardly toward its other end, which will be opposite to the tread of the car wheel, as indicated at |8b. By so forming the 'body portion IS, the clamp is capable of rotating to an increased extent on a rail the inner side of the head of which is flange-worn, without bringing the top of the clamp into engagement with the tread 0 of the car wheel, as shown in Fig. 3, thus avoiding interference with the locking action produced by the rotating of the clamp by the engagement of the flange of the car wheel with the high side l8 of the clamp.

A further improvement consists in providing 7 a handle which'may be used, if desired, to enable the clamp to be applied to and removed from the rail with facility and safety. The handle 25 consists preferably of an iron bar of suitable length having a hole at one end, and the high side I8 of the body is also provided with a hole, these holes in the handle and clamp being adapted to loosely receive an ordinary bolt 26 which provides a pivotal attachment of the handle to the clamp. The handle enables the clamp to be placed on the rail or removed therefrom without subjecting the attendant to the danger of placing his hands under the car wheels. In using the handle in placing the clamp on the rail, the clamp hangs by gravity or is pivotally suspended from the handle, and is placed over the rail from its outer side so that the lug 22 first hooks beneath the outer side of the rail head,

' of the railhead, and the handle is then released so that it also may drop onto the top of the rail, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 1.'

When the higher end I8 of the clamp is engaged by the flange o of the car wheel, the clamp is twisted about an approximately vertical axis which seats the lugs 2| and 22 beneath the respective sides of the rail head and also seats the lug 2| on the respective upper face of the base of the rail, andsuch engagement of'the car wheel flange also tilts the clamp from an approximately vertical position to an inclined position, thereby causing the lugs 2| and 22 to be effectively locked against the respective under sides of the rail head and also causing the lug 2| to be effectively wedgedbetween the respective under side of the rail head and the respective upper face of the base of the rail. As will be seen from Fig. 3, the sloping top'surface |8 of the clamp clears the tread o of the car wheel 0 while the flange o of the wheel engages the high end I8 of the clamp to turn and tilt it into locking engagement with the rail, thus enabling the clamp to accommodate itself to rails tions of the lugs against the respective under which are flange worn so that the head of the rail is narrower than normal, and therefore permits the clamp to turn to a greater extent than rails having heads of normal width.

Removal of the clamp from the rail, after the clamp has been relieved of the pressure of the car wheel, may be effected by simply grasping the handle 25 and swinging it into a position at a right angle to the rail, or substantially so, and then lifting the clamp while suspended from the handle, the end of the clamp to which the handle is attached being first lifted toward the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, thereby removing the lug 2| from the inner side of the rail, and then pulling the clamp toward the right in said figure, thereby unhooking the lug 22 from the rail and enabling complete removal of the clamp therefrom.

In shipping the clamps, they may be strung on a wire passed through the holes provided in the clamps for the bolts 26, and the handles, it such are to be used, may be attached to the clamps by the simple insertion of the bolts.

As the lugs of the improved clamp are widened or extend symmetrically from both sides of the central body of the clamp, the clamp is equally effective as a stop, irrespective of the side of the clamp which is approached and engaged by the car wheel, so that the clamp may be used to hold or stop a car from movement in either direction along the rail.

I claim as my invention:

1. A rail clamp comprising a substantially fiat body portion shaped to straddle a rail head transversely and extend above the rail for engagement by a car wheel flange and rockable thereby about a substantially vertical axis into a rotated position on the rail head, and having a pair of lugs located below and engageable with the under sides of the rail head when the body portion is rocked into such rotated position, said lugs being of greater thickness than and projecting from the opposite sides of the body portion and providing extended corners engageable with the respective under sides of the rail head. I a

2. A rail clamp comprising a body portio shaped to fit over a rail head transversely and project above the rail for engagement at one end by a car wheel flange, said body portion having a pair of lugs located below the rail head and movable into engagement with the under sides of the rail head by rotation of the body portion on the rail head by engagement of the car wheel. flange therewith, and one of said lugs extending substantially to the base of the rail and adapted to be wedged between the respective under side of the head and the upper surface of the base of the rail.

3. A rail clamp comprising a body portion shaped to fit transversely over the head of a rail and having a pair of depending lugs rigid therewith and located below and directed toward the under sides of the rail head when the clamp is placed thereon, one of said lugs projecting from at least one side and the other lug projecting from at least the other side of said body portion, the latter extending above the rail when placed thereon for engagement by the flange of a car wheel for rotating the clamp about an approximately vertical axis to seat the projecting porsides of the rail head. I

4. A rail clamp comprising a substantially flat body, portion adapted to be placed transversely of a car wheel to turn the clamp on an approximately vertical axis and thereby seat said lugs against the under sides of the rail head and to tilt the clamp from an approximately vertical 5 position to wedge said downwardly extending lug between the under side of the head and the upper surface of the base of the rail.

FRANCIS K. HOIMES'I'ED. 

